A Drop of Rain
by hippiechick2112
Summary: Nothing is ever certain. Full of shameful doubt and blame, Logan would need to find the key to the true future with the help of those who placed their stakes with him. The darkness in death would surely claim another if one wrong step is made. Part six of the series "Unspoken".
1. Lessons Never Learned

**A Drop of Rain**

 **Note and Disclaimer: I will never own the characters and plots from _X-Men_ , but the other characters not in the original series are mine for the imagination to play with. This is the sixth story (and most likely final this time) of the series "Unspoken" and the third in the new timeline. This is also a direct sequel to _Remember Me, Remember Us_ and _On the Turning Away_. Enjoy, everyone!**

* * *

 _I watch the city burn,  
These passions slowly smoldering.  
A lesson never learned, only violence.  
Is your world just a broken promise?  
Is your love just a drop of rain?  
Will we all just burn like fire?  
Are you still there? Tell me now…_

 _Can you stand the pain?  
How long will you hide your face?  
How long will you be afraid?  
Are you afraid? Oh…  
How long will you play this game?  
Will you fight or will you walk away?  
How long will you let it burn?  
Let it burn, let it burn…_

 **June 9, 2023**

The machine beeped and dinged so many times that even Logan was going mad listening to it hourly. He reached over to the limp white hand forgotten on the bed, hoping that somehow, his life would be exchanged for this woman's, the one who sacrificed so much already and now was as still as a child's doll on a shelf. However, vain hopes never did him any good. It was best to just sit and be there for his wife.

Danielle Mitchell, the widow of a ruthless dictator and a wife to the practically immortal man she loved, was dying. Found unconscious in town, she was transported to the nearest hospital in Yonkers, where they left her on life support. With no visible signs of decay and no bodily activity, the doctors declared her brain dead and pushed to have the plug removed and to let her die quietly.

Logan refused their pleas to let Danielle drift away in peace. He could not let her go. He could not allow himself to be the cause of her death, even though it was highly unlikely she would allow herself the luxury and would lie dormant for years. He only wanted to reverse what he had done, even if it meant dying in the future he sought to save, and to preserve what little harmony there was in this lifetime.

His hand moved from hers to her red hair…or what was left of it anyway. The locks had turned to a more greyish color that he had seen before going back in time and no bottle of dye was going to hide it. She had been running against death then, Logan recalled. She had tried hard to keep their youngest children together and worried about the older ones at the same time. She was conflicted and close to losing her sanity, tired from the running and out of all hope. Even she doubted that going back to 1973 would solve all of their problems.

Jean snuck in when Logan wasn't paying attention. She observed him for the past day and thought him too dedicated for his own good. Sure, she blamed him for a million things, including her cheating on Scott a long time ago. However, she could not hold the grudge to the man who was from another time compared to the one she knew. This one genuinely loved Danielle and would do anything in his power to ensure her survival. His own? It was doubtful and suicide was never an option.

"Do you need anything?" Jean's voice was gentle and even sympathetic. She ventured no opinion about the state of affairs and tried to have the best bedside manner she could muster.

"None." Logan's reply was softer. He did not turn to face her.

"If you need anything, let me know. Mae is also available." Jean did not want to think of Shannon Mitchell's friend, already impugning herself for Danielle's failing health. "I am sure we can come up with something."

Logan said nothing more, allowing Jean the chance to back away. Once she was cleared from their private circle though, a reflection came to mind. Believing that nothing was going to make Danielle get any better if he left, he hopped from his chair and chased after Jean. He sniffed her scent to her office, a place he still dreaded. Before Danielle ever came into his life and destroyed his sense of self, there was Jean, the forbidden fruit. She was a beauty then and even now, trapped as innocently as he was in this charade. He quickly shook that all away and tried to clear his throat for attention.

She noticed him as she stuffed some odd papers into a filing cabinet, rummaging as she worked. "Yes?"

"Can you get the Professor? Please?"

"I can when you are ready. A question remains though."

"What?"

"Have you given any thought to your children?"

Logan could have slapped himself and named himself the most selfish father ever. Daken and Celeste had not been seen since Logan had found their mother the day before and perhaps heard the gossip. He hardly had the time to call the farmhouse too. By now, Michael and Riley and their other halves (and maybe Devon, that rascal) would have heard the news. It would devastate them to know that their father figure was hiding in his grief and blaming himself for hell knows what else.

 _I should contact them._

"No, not yet." Logan sounded defeated. "Do you have a telephone I can use?"

Jean grinned weakly, motioning to the one on her desk. It wasn't what Logan was used to and it took some minutes before he figured out how to use it since it was like a miniature computer (a rotary phone would have been better), but he managed to get the numbers dialed and the other side ringing. By then, Jean had disappeared and allowed him space to talk alone.

Michael answered the other end after the third ring. "Dad?"

"Yeah." Logan felt awkward talking with his adult child. "Listen, I need you and Riley to come to the mansion as soon as you can."

"Why?" Michael was confused. Then, his tone changed to one of dread. "Jesus Christ. It's Mom, isn't it?"

"Just get your brother and come," Logan ordered, a little more sharply than he intended. Michael was no kid and shouldn't have earned it. "You can leave everyone there."

"Daken warned me. He told me that Mom wasn't doing well. I didn't believe him."

"Now isn't the time for regret. I need your ass and Riley's here. You aren't doing your mother any good sulking like an idiot."

Logan could not tell if his message was received and he did not care. He was not in the mood for the pity parties. He hung up angry (hopefully), storming out of the office. He immediately went back to Danielle, sitting by her side in silence. Contemplating on his conversation with Michael though, he thought himself an asshole. He could have comforted Michael and told him that things would be all right. He could have added that Danielle would pull through and they would be happy again.

 _But that's not the truth._

And it would never be. It was a lie that Logan was not willing to stand by. Whether or not Danielle pulled through, their lives would never be the same again.

It was some time later before Xavier arrived. He noticed Logan had been sleeping upright in his seat and waited patiently, thinking it a while before he woke up. In the meantime, he took the chance to appraise the situation and to see how serious it was. From the way Mae, Jean and Kitty had been blabbing all at once when they pinned him to his own office corner (and a great headache that was!), they were sure that they were standing at the edge of a great cliff and were going to be pushed off of it.

 _Rubbish. Then again, to disregard the word of a woman would be foolish. Best to see what is happening._

Reaching over to Danielle's forehead, Xavier brushed his fingers against the greying hair and remained on the surface on her mind. He closed his eyes, opening them only when he was inside. Around him was darkness and death to a dimension he could not define. He could not clearly wade his way through the sea that engulfed him and threatened his very existence. Pulling away, he jerked the bed and disturbed the dreamless world Logan previously allowed himself to have.

The older mutant was slightly and briefly embarrassed to be caught sleeping on the job, as it were. "Professor," he offered as an apology. He did not know what else to say.

"Logan." Xavier smiled warmly, the same he would give to a student in trouble. "Would it trouble you to tell me anything on your mind?"

It was a joke from the strong telepath. Logan's mouth worked out a chuckle, but it came out all wrong. It was full of anguish and pain. He was reproaching himself, Xavier noticed, and would continue to beat himself up for the position Danielle was in. The Professor refused to place any grave accusations though. He thought it noble of her to remember her wedding vows and to keep Logan in her protection always. It was most certainly robbing her of all life.

"I would have thought you had the answers," Logan replied with some animosity. "Three women came forward and none of them had the whole story?"

"There's always a shred of truth in everything one states," Xavier pointed out. "I would not think all of them untrustworthy and completely annoying. Do not be irate at them, Logan. Jean was trying to help Danielle and Kitty was protecting herself. Mae…well, I would keep away from her if I were you."

"She doesn't scare. She never did."

"You and Roger have a shared past that has been… _interesting_ , let's say. Let's keep it there and leave them alone, shall we?"

"Uh-huh. I see. So, you want the truth?"

"I would appreciate it please."

"I should have never agreed to change the past. This would have never have happened. I could have lost Danielle once and not multiple times."

"But evil would have won, as you would have put it. Danielle would be dead anyway and you may have survived. Your children would suffer a long way on their own."

"If they allowed the Sentinels that pleasure. All of them would have done anything to spite them."

Xavier nodded in agreement like they were not arguing the finer points of ethics. All five people were capable of taking care of themselves. "I think I see the problem."

"We all had a few of those epiphanies," Logan admitted. He calculated this to be the best time to talk to Xavier about the rift between the two lives. "Did any of them women tell you?"

"Kitty mentioned something solid," Xavier explained slowly. "She states that an earlier encounter with you and Danielle revealed a little about her dreams and the connection between all three of you."

"I was the passenger and Kitty and Rogue the drivers."

"And Danielle was the wedge that broke through to the other side."

Xavier and Logan faced each other squarely. It interested the former to no end how easy it was to get the latter to open up, especially when it concerned his wife. He recalled 1973 vividly, before Danielle was even born. Logan had no problem telling him how he reached the mansion and his eventual his altercation with Hank did not begin their friendship well. It was strange to hear of it, but as the days past in relative normalcy, from scheming to enacting the plans to stop Mystique, he trusted Logan without any doubt. He could not back from that now, especially in such a crises.

" _So many battles waged over the years…and yet, none like this. Are we destined to destroy each other or can we change each other and unite? Is the future truly set…?"_

Indeed, it was a deep pondering he encountered again and again when he felt Danielle use her powers to create an image of their former lives and one he would never share. What if this future wasn't truly set? That he and many more like Kitty and perhaps Rogue can alter it so that their loved ones could survive? Or will this be the final nightmare they faced and that two souls would depart from this Earth? Could there be no way this time?

 _Is this future truly set? Or do we need to make it stick?_

Xavier finally patted him on the shoulder. "I would recommend rest, Logan. In the morning, I am certain we would all come up with ideas to resolve this issue."

"And if I cannot sleep?" Logan challenged.

"You would need it for Daken and Celeste," Xavier reminded him. "They are also counting on you. Michael and Riley would be strong enough to handle this. They had seen worse. The youngest two would be devastated."

Celeste would never be _that_ upset, Logan recounted, although it was subject to change drastically. Even before, he recalled his stubborn daughter to be aloof, only using the convenience of a mother when she could not get her way with him. Today? God only had an infinite answer evolving around the social creature. Sure, she would be relieved that Danielle was out of the way and would not ground her, but when the loneliness settled, where would Celeste be? Would she come over to watch over her mother like the hawk with her youth? Would she forget all of the unforgiveable words then, regretting what was done just as Logan was?

"I wouldn't want them to see their mother like this," Logan decided. His pronouncements as a parent should count for something even if Danielle was the primary discipliner. "I will deal with them tonight."

Xavier shook his head positively, respecting this decision and conceding. "I will be in my office if you need anything. Hank and I need to do a little research."

"Would you need an extra pair of eyes?"

"Do not volunteer yourself, Logan. Two people is crowd enough. Besides, there are tasks enough for you."

"Like what?"

"Turning on the radio for starters." Xavier smirked, wiping away his laughter in such a serious place. "I'm sure Danielle and Jay both would enjoy it."


	2. Somewhere Only We Know

_I walked across an empty land.  
I knew the pathway like the back of my hand.  
I felt the earth beneath my feet,  
Sat by the river and it made me complete._

 _Oh, simple thing, where have you gone?  
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on.  
So, tell me when you're gonna let me in.  
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin._

The music went through the vents and into Xavier's office, a comfort in this dire state. There, he sat with Hank and they combed through the older school records. They would have had to begin with 1974, when Jay was enrolled as a very young mutant and in Kindergarten no less, and ended it in 1995, when Danielle graduated as a sixteen-year-old senior who appeared to be in her twenties. It was difficult the way the files meshed into one another and were disorganized. Hank curses under his breath.

"Why couldn't these be digitalize this?" he huffed.

"Because we chose not to," Xavier replied nonchalantly. It was too much work and still is. "We had several years' worth of students who passed through and many more who we informally trained. We did not have the time to scan this to the computers."

"I think we should start."

"I beg to differ, Hank. Now, what have you found?"

"Your notes on the Mitchell siblings so far. There's also a few things from Chameleon as well. He mentioned in his own notes about his older brother and how, when he died, the powers went to him."

"We have knowledge of their most basic powers, all of which come from both of their parents. Chameleon's testimony is most compelling. Save that. Do we have anything from 1973, before Jay enrolled?"

Hank checked an old box, weak from age and breaking from the bottom. "Not that I can see. There are some empty syringes in here though."

"Throw them away." Xavier waved his hand in dismissal of his murky past. "Jean will find a hazardous waste site for their disposal."

"What about the notes on Shannon Adams and her mother, sister and nieces?"

"Keep those out. There might be a clue in there."

"Old newspaper clippings too? The murders are prominent."

"No, not those. I am sure they will bring up bad memories. Set them aside instead. I want to read through them again at a later point."

The two continued to work this way, asking the other if something was appropriate and setting it aside or putting it away. By early evening, after the dinner bell rang for the second shift, they filled two tables full of paperwork, odd files, journalist bits and a few books. Anything that would assist them in their quest for understanding, it stood waiting for them to piece together. Xavier was pleased with the results. He did not expect to find so much in so little late spring daylight.

"What must we tell Logan?" Hank was curious. "Honestly, Charles, I am not sure why you are digging up information from so long ago anyway. I understand that Logan's consciousness came from another era. I remember when he first came here and told us about the possible future. At the same time, I am not sure how this is all linked together."

"I can believe that two different timelines have been crossed," Xavier explained patiently, "and I am willing to find out as much as I can about both before we proceed. I think we need to talk with Kitty now. Find Rogue as well if you can please."

 _I came across a fallen tree.  
I felt the branches of it looking at me.  
Is this the place we used to love?  
Is this the place that I've been dreaming of?_

 _Oh, simple thing, where have you gone?  
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on.  
So, tell me when you're gonna let me in.  
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin._

Hank took the hint. He got up, stretching his stiff blue limbs before departing. Softly blaspheming once more, he longed for Mystique and the familiarity of their family. He had not seen her or their three children in days, not since the storm had caused so much damage in Salem Center, and wanted nothing more than to sit in their living room and to run his fingers like a comb through her red hair.

He was anxious too. This whole episode had dragged on longer than it should have. He suspected something was wrong on that fateful morning only a few weeks ago. Danielle had done more than her fair share of keeping scandal off of everyone's tongues about her family, especially after her disastrous marriage with Leon Ellis and the events leading up to her second union. Now, she was in the fight for her life (as well as Jay's) to keep order when there wasn't any.

Hank finally met Kitty outside of the medical bay. It had been several minutes since he left Xavier and he was willing to forfeit the search when he came across her standing still by the entranceway. She was not going anywhere, in or out, and only listened to the music playing beyond the heavy doors. Her tragic figure cut the perfect image of the forgotten heroine, the one that was supposed to save the day and did not take the step forward to make it happen. She was cast aside, the demon that would suffer a punishment from a circle of hell for sins she did not mean to commit.

"Kitty." Hank nodded his hello. "Can we have a word?"

She looked around him slowly, expecting more than one person to berate her, and sighed audibly. She waited patiently, hoping that another wound would slash her, and was surprised to hear nothing. Inquisitive, she tilted her head to one side, her eyes speaking volumes of questions, most of them asking Hank why he would talk to her.

"The Professor and I would like you in his office," he went on. "It would only take a few minutes."

"I don't want to." Kitty's voice was small and thick and quite fallow in being used. It also sounded like she had been crying.

"We need you to," he pleaded. " _Please_ , Kitty. I would not have come here if it wasn't imperative."

"But I've _killed_ them. Don't you understand?"

"You have murdered nobody, my dear. This is only a minor setback and we will rise above it. We always did."

"This is different, Hank. This is about two lives entwined with the other and another who dropped in unexpectedly. They all could _die_."

"Logan's choice to change the future was not one he took lightly. I recall him forcing the door open and telling us about Mystique and Erik like it was yesterday."

"Sounds like him. It doesn't make sense though."

"Oh?" Hank raised a furry eyebrow.

"Why me?" Kitty was desperate. "Why did it have to be _me_?"

"It is a good enquiry and one we can explore later," Hank said. "For now though, the Professor and I require this conference with you. I would also find Rogue if you can. If not, we can work without her until such a time she can sit in on our sessions."

It took more persuasion and a little physical action on his part, but Hank managed to navigate Kitty to Xavier's office. Once their privacy was ensured, the three gathered together in a secret circle, frantic to keep this as quiet as they could. Kitty could not help but feel sorry for herself. She did not want to think of her problems linked to the others. She was too used to solving her own and hardly told anyone anything except maybe Ororo once upon a time. Once everyone learned of the whole dilemma and landed the blame in her lap, it would not be long before she was ostracized and thrown out.

For Xavier, it was never the case. He would stand by her in everything, but he also looked at her severely, the first time she ever recalled. Even when he heard of her being a teenaged terrorist against Ellis' administration that first night going to Canada, he didn't bat an eyelash. Today was a new story and one she hoped would not make her homeless. She created a family here with Colossus and God be damned, she would fight it!

 _And if you have a minute, why don't we go?  
Talk about it somewhere only we know?  
This could be the end of everything.  
So why don't we go somewhere only we know?_

 _Oh, simple thing, where have you gone?  
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on.  
So, tell me when you're gonna let me in.  
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin._

"While Hank and I have reconstructed some sense in the series of events leading to this moment, I still need other points of view," Xavier began. That had been a relief to Kitty. "Since we now have an idea of who was involved and why, it would be a good idea to ask Logan. In lieu of that, I would request yours, Kitty. Do you remember what happened the night before anyone noticed something odd with Logan?"

Kitty did not want to open up about that hellish night, but in order to right the wrong, she had to. Without warning though, her words choked back by a wave of outlandish sobs, she waited until her voice managed to remain calm. Hank and Xavier were not pushing her otherwise. The sternness from them both was replaced with sympathy. Indeed, they were on her side. She did not need to worry about moving away from Salem Center.

 _Yet._

"I…I had a dream," Kitty finally said. She squared her shoulders and wiped away her tears. "All of us – I mean, there was you, Professor, and Magneto. There was also Bobby and Danielle and two of her children, maybe Celeste and Daken. There were people outside protecting us from some other force I cannot describe. It was dark… _gloomy_."

"It was the Chinese monastery, wasn't it?" Xavier was gentle in his urges, wishing that Kitty would somehow tell him otherwise. He did not want to hear about the sordid past that Logan had brought with him. He wanted the future he had now, the one they worked so hard to create.

Kitty shook her head regardless. "I don't know. I do know that we were in danger and we were taking a risk that could mean the end of our existence. Already, we had lost so many people… _children_ …and we could not afford a world without peace."

"A world without _us_ ," Hank interjected. "A life in which most of us were dead."

"I remember that I was losing blood," Kitty continued, not hearing Hank. "Bobby left with Magneto and never came back…"

"And Rogue took your place," Xavier finished.

Kitty was astonished. "How did you know, Professor?"

"Hank and I were the keepers of Logan's secrets," he explained. He could no longer retain this between him and Hank anymore. "He came to us in 1973 with a tale that we could not believe, that he came from fifty years later. Back then, time travel was a fantasy. We learned about in _Star Trek_. It was wishful, wonderful and even fanciful. Everyone talked about it and how it could change the world. Alas, for most of the wistful ones, it never came to be, although we have learned that the future is never truly set in stone."

"So, when Logan arrived, it was dismissed as some LSD trip," Hank went on. "He thought that the Professor was a man who would assist in any way possible."

"I was under a phase in my life where I did not care about anyone and demons haunted me," Xavier admitted. "This was the kick start I needed. It reinstituted the school, but that shall remain a story for another day. Back to Logan. As Hank mentioned, we thought he was a wild man who told this in order to get our attention. I remembered him vaguely from the decade before. Erik and I had met him at a bar to enlist him for a…well, let's say it was an activity. He was rude about it and we left him alone.

"On the other hand, I did not expect the same person to be knocking on my door and demanding so many things, one of them to recruit people. He listed names. He told me to find them and to protect them with all of my might. Eventually, when Logan initially disappeared, before he arrived back into the kitchen, I listened because my heart and mind told me to. Whatever he informed us of had been the truth. That alone took us to the next decade and the appearance of another enemy.

"Once more, another story for another day. Regardless, dear Kitty, it stands now that we are the ones who might have to find the solution, one person at a time to carry the deed and hand it to the other. Allowing Danielle to go back in time, as it were, to show memories to a man from a different place resulted in the most unlikely situation. Even I, of all people, did not expect to have to think back to events in my life where the future was held in our hands."

 _And if you have a minute, why don't we go?_ _  
_ _Talk about it somewhere only we know?_ _  
_ _This could be the end of everything._ _  
_ _So, why don't we go?_ _Why don't we go?_

 _This could be the end of everything.  
So, why don't we go somewhere only we know?  
Somewhere only we know…_

"So, are you telling me that our future, the one that we see in front of us, is threatened?" Kitty's voice grew small again, insignificant against the rolling tide engulfing all of them. "That the possibility of our lives being with the dreams are real? That Danielle and Logan were right?"

"Because the past had been changed for _them_ ," Xavier confirmed. "You had been the tool, Kitty, and had stretched Logan's mind far back since he alone could have stood the trip. Now, a more powerful mutant took the reins and opened a hole that would not have been there had she not linked herself to the man she loved."

"What can we do?" Kitty's urge to spring into action came again, stronger than ever before. She would need to redeem herself, now more than ever before. "How do we fix it?"

Xavier did not want to speak about his experience with Danielle, only smiling to encourage the positive outcome he was sure would come. "Join together," he said, reaching over to pat Kitty's hand in reassurance. "When I have need of you, I will let you know. For now, act normally. Do not fret though, Kitty. As the instrument that sends people back into the past, there would be a moment in which your bravery would be asked for. You would be able to stand forward and accept the consequences of what all of us – past, present and now the future – have done."

"And Logan?" Hank was thinking the same as Kitty although she did not express it. "What shall we do with him?"

"Tell him the same," Xavier answered confidently. "He too will understand that he would have to walk a pathway we cannot with him and take the next steps when one has finished. When it is his turn, I can only hope he will trek as strongly as he did before and have the perseverance to keep on…and pass the baton to the next in line."

* * *

 **Hi, everyone! Yes, this is the new story. I actually finished editing the beginning last night and posted it. I hope you all enjoy it so far! A few notes as always, just because I can...**

 **The following lyrics are from (previous chapter) Red's "Let It Burn" and (this chapter) Keane's "Somewhere Only We Know". In addition, I am hoping to include more of the X-Men into these stories since my mind went in that direction, more so than the previous two, so please be patient. Review if you want, but be kind, I beg you. Two years had passed since the beginning of the series and I am hoping to see it to the end with all of your support.**

 **Thank you!**


	3. Working on Leads

There comes a moment as a parent when telling the truth becomes the hardest thing in the world. Logan felt that today was one of those instances. The children were coming and nobody was stopping them. Daken and Celeste were lingering in the corridors begging to see their parents. Michael and Riley would arrive soon if they hadn't already. Devon, when he heard the word, would rush to his mother's side in an instant.

All and all, they would come together as a family and demand answers from Logan…and he did not have them.

Honestly, Logan was not ready to tell them the facts. He dreaded having to admit that he was not the same father they knew all of their lives and was just an imposter who invaded the same body and experienced different things. He was a mutant who traveled far and wide to have this future and now he messed his chance at peace.

This was not the picture-perfect world the Xavier of the previous time would have wanted, he mused, although there was a chance they would continue without the harassment and that was desirable. This was better than the Sentinels tailing them, he would concede, but this also forced two siblings to sacrifice themselves and pushed them towards a collective death because they had wanted him to know of his past, the one he was supposed to have. It was unforgivable and most certainly a crime itself that he accepted it.

At one point, Jean could no longer hold them all back much longer, acquiescing to their petitions to enter. After the dinner bell, the four of them marched in the medical bay, standing before the bed. Logan could not gauge their true feelings, but he could tell that they all were upset and looking to him for comfort and reassurance. As the oldest present until Devon showed up, Michael inquired first what had happened and what they can do, where his mother's papers were and how Logan was faring.

Logan could not speak. "As well as I can," he muttered, a reply to the last inquiry. He id not want to tell Michael anything else.

Michael took this as shock and attempted to keep his siblings from jumping on Logan, holding his arms out to push them away. Riley most of all wanted a solution, his hot temper getting the best of him as he shoved his older brother aside. He started babbling in incoherent sentences about how they cannot allow his mother to lie like that and not die. When Celeste reminded him that their mother could live and die as she pleased and that they cannot control that, it exploded into an argument between the four.

Numbed, Logan sat there stupidly, hardly hearing what they were saying. When Jean butted in after a few minutes and reminded the young adults that this was a no-yelling zone and that they already pushed her limits by violating this rule, Logan only nodded in agreement. Silence ensued. Four sets of young eyes again looked to him for assistance.

Jean took the lead again. "Your dad doesn't quite have a clear picture of what is going on," she stated plainly. "I do. What seems to have happened is that an outside influence controlled your uncle and it bounced back on her. The hospital did not have a favorable diagnosis and did not believe she would survive. However, I have every reason to think otherwise."

"How?" Riley demanded. "What can _you_ do that they cannot?"

"Like every student such as yourself, your mother and uncle have been studied so that we have a better understanding of their powers," Jean continued. "Theirs are so unique and extraordinary that they even surpass mine and the Professor's and might even have the ability to control a world. At the same time, they remain as mysterious as the day they had been revealed when they were children. I don't have too many other details, but I can answer as many questions that you have."

This gave Logan the chance to escape. Jean waved him away to her office, hiding his getaway to the children as a way to smoothly transition this to a professional atmosphere. She added that he was distraught and could not think clearly, stopping them from badgering him as he locked himself in the small room. She even grabbed Celeste when she tried going after him, locking her with her brothers. No, Jean was not allowing this secret to be revealed. She wanted to protect Logan as much as Danielle did.

When the Q&A session ended an hour later (exhausting as it was), Jean dragged over three more chairs and directed the dissatisfied siblings to sit with their mother and uncle for a while. She even reached over to turn the radio on, randomly picking a station and ordering them to leave the dial alone and to not change it. When the volume was cranked up by Daken and they started singing along with it (an odd reunion for such a diverse family, she had to observe), Jean found her opportunity to escape. She immediately beelined for her office to see Logan, only halting when he heard Xavier call for her.

 _Where are you, Professor?_

 _In the gardens. Meet me there please. I would like to take a walk with you._

Jean did not like leaving her two patients alone, much less allow Logan free rein over her space. She sensed so much aggravation, depression and blame from him and was afraid that he would do something drastic (as if he could kill himself). Sighing, she allowed herself the disquieting reassurance that he might sit in misery and not do harm in front of his children, deciding to join Xavier outside.

The Professor was indeed in the gardens near the koi pond, peaceful-looking in the early evening hours. He was reading a book, closing it and putting it to one side when he spotted her. He smiled, moving his wheelchair forward at the same speed as her steps. They proceeded to a more private location away from the mansion, chatting inanely about the weather, finals and the next school year. When they were far enough away, they stopped by a tree, comforted by its shade.

"I have an assignment for you," Xavier began. "It requires some work with Logan."

"What do you mean?" Jean concluded as much needed to happen, but did not expect her to be the first step.

"Hank and I have been doing some digging and have come up with some material we need to review." Xavier smiled strangely, reminiscing over the past before coming back to the present. "I have pinpointed that few people were part of this play, the least of which is us, and that we have some parts to enact before this charade can cease."

"How so?"

"Jean, there is a place in Logan's life that everyone was a part of. If we can connect each person to him that has the ability to, then maybe some closure can be achieved."

"You believe that I was some part of his former life?"

"Not believe. I _know_."

Jean was confused. Xavier left it that way. He did not want to recall the horrible images he had to face when he was a younger man driven by pain, seeing past all of that to view the future that could have been. On the way there, he drove through memories of love, heartbreak and disaster. Logan's almost unrequited love for Jean, surfacing at the most drastic time in his life, destroyed him and drove a wedge between him and Danielle for over two years. Jean, as the Dark Phoenix, had to die at its climax and that alone herded Logan into a dark period in his life.

Xavier chased it away, not wanting to scare Jean. "Find out what you can. My working theory, as Danielle would say, is that each of us can only go so far and then have to stop."

"What brought you to that? It might be wrong."

"When I checked on Danielle, the present moment in another space was nothing but darkness and death. There was a void where something should have been. However, when I attempted to check on anyone else on the team, I was unable to. I was stuck in this black hole of sorts."

"So, what are you saying? I am not quite following."

"That we can only go as far as ourselves in this other world did. The Mitchells are stuck in a time where they are either dead or hardly surviving, linked to our world and the other and drifting nowhere. Where were we at this moment as they are? What can we do to change it if we decided to go to the same place and to fix it, to right the wrongs and makes this our world?"

"You're talking in circles, Professor. Are you sure your research is bringing you where you need to be?"

"I am sure, Jean, as sure as the day I reopened the school. Maybe some conversations with Logan might help us. Do you think you can handle that for now?"

Jean had to think about it. "Well, if I can keep his children from harassing him, I might have a chance, but I will wait a day. Already, I had to ensure he survived their attack."

"Attack?" Xavier raised an eyebrow.

Jean took a deep breath. "I never saw them all so angry before. They're just as helpless as Logan himself. Sure, they were upset about Jay. Their mother is different. Even Celeste was very defensive."

"Interesting."

"Family unity, I would call it."

"I concur. However, I need your promise of help, Jean. I need you to trust me. I don't think we can do this without you."

"I'll do the best I can," she said weakly. "Even you have said one doesn't know how far they can go if linked to Jay and Danielle. I might just be a small step."

"And that will do, even with your best efforts." Xavier nodded. "Now, I believe you have your own finals to grade?"

"As a distraction, I suppose." Jean did not want to face reality, tending to two different and pressing matters. "Scott is going to need to help with his."

"Go." Xavier waved her away playfully. "I trust you, Jean. I always do."

It was reassuring, but not quite enough to make it stick. Xavier watched Jean leave and head back inside through a side door. Believing that she would at least try to obey his requests, he sighed with relief. He swung himself in the same direction, instead towards to his office. He nodded courteously at everyone he encountered, listening to a word or two from various students, and managed to reach his sanctuary. He closed the door behind him.

Hank, who had been reading in a corner, was startled. "I didn't expect you back so soon, Charles."

"I didn't either," Xavier admitted freely. "I was prepared to fight Jean, of all people."

"I would assume she still did not understand."

"Yes."

"I don't either, but that's not the point. What is concerns us and it sits between these papers and books."

"Did you find anything?"

Hank squinted his eyes at a text in his hands, pointing to a line. "I did. It involves the Sentinel programs that almost blossomed."

"Ahh, the robotic madness. I never thought I'd hear the end of them."

"Do you remember what Logan said about them originally? That with the assassination of Trask, they would use the Sentinels against us?"

"Of course." Xavier did not like the references to the events of 1973, but that could not be helped. He hoped to make it water under the bridge, but it always came back up to drown them, now more than ever. "Who could forget that day in France?"

"Should we include Erik, especially since he was a huge factor that day?"

"If we need to, Hank. I do not want to rush to call him."

"Do you know where he is?"

"There's always a way to find him."

Hank sensed a tone of animosity underneath the politeness and let it go. Xavier never liked talking about Magneto, especially in recent years. The two had grown apart and had separated over several issues, most of them about Moira. Even though it was almost ten years ago that the silly incident happened (details always escaped Hank), the two grudgingly worked together as best as they could when it was called for. This was one issue that Xavier could never resolve. He and his old friend had a history going back several decades and nothing could break that bond, even over a woman.

Even in Hank's opinion, to call the two friends would be stretching it. Colleagues perhaps, but they were never really close to begin with and only fused on their common cause in the search for Shaw. Xavier warned the Holocaust survivor that revenge would never give him peace. In that quest though, a soul had been imprisoned and lost before redeemed almost twenty years ago.

 _Well, in Danielle and Logan's eyes anyway. I wouldn't believe Logan so pleased that he owes the great Magneto anything though._

"Who do you think we can talk to if not relying on these old things?" Hank was curious. "I mean, some of these notes you wrote past 1973 don't make much sense."

"None of it does," Xavier confirmed. "I was jotting down what I heard and observed. I did not think the Mitchells so great a danger and they still are not. However, after pondering, I do have a lead now that we're talking this through."

It was Hank's turn to raise his furry eyebrow. "An eye witness?"

"More," the Professor replied. "Do you recall Chameleon?"

"The mercenary and assassin? The Vietnam veteran that would never die? Of course. Who could forget him?"

"He too had identical powers to his children. His brother also died when he was young, a man that protected him until a drunk driver swerved. It is possible he has a word of advice."

"Charles, Chameleon is also currently living in a veterans' nursing home," Hank warned. "His mind is not what it used to be. It's been rumored that it wonders and he imagines himself back in the jungles of Vietnam. He's worse than Alex."

Xavier was not fazed. "That is a risk that I am willing to take."

Hank saw no point in arguing. "Who will you take with you?"

"If Jean will work with Logan tomorrow, then I can take Roger. Chameleon will recognize him from the past."

"Mae has him couched. His defense class students beat him enough that he can't walk well. Serves him right for asking them to."

Xavier was amused. He heard the story before and agreed, hiding his merriment behind a grin. "He shouldn't be taking those classes so seriously. Can he at least drive?"

"You would have to ask him," Hank said. He shrugged his shoulders to emphasis his answer."

"Not his wife?"

Hank suppressed a laugh. "If I know Mae, she would deny him every adventure and say that he is too old to chase around demons and ghosts. Roger, the master spy, claiming to act his age? It won't happen. Roger will push his limits until the day he dies. Until that moment happens, we'll hear Mae tell him that she told him so and she'll make sure the Grim Reaper waits until Roger heard it and could not argue her."


	4. To the Veteran's Home

Roger complained all the way. Dragged from his warm bed by five in the morning and never told the reason why, he managed to start a vehicle and drive to the veterans' home in Westchester. Xavier ignored this exchange, choosing to enjoy the trek through the warming summer day. He too was not looking forward to this journey. Dealing with Chameleon had been one of his least favorite things to do.

And who could blame him? The mercenary had pushed and pulled them through years of turmoil, shame and sometimes joy. He was an assent and a pain all in the same breath. This positive service to them might be the last he would render, Xavier thought, and to his children and grandchildren no less. If Chameleon would give them the first clue, then they would be able to add it to their knowledge and piece it to the others.

The master spy pulled into the back parking lot around eight. He assisted Xavier out of his seat and into the wheelchair and pushed him to the doors, even though the Professor could have navigated himself (pretending to be helpless was an asset). They checked in with the receptionist (who warned them that Chameleon was having a bad day) and were escorted to the most secure part of the building. It was where they housed the veterans where there was no hope, most of all for their recovery.

It was a lengthy process that took an hour to complete. Both Xavier and Roger had to go through metal detectors, stripped of some of their clothing (ties, lapels and such) and were given alternative pieces to wear. Roger had to give up all of his weapons, promised that he could retrieve them upon his exit, and he had to give in his mobile devices. That was a sacrifice, Xavier saw with amusement. Even if there was no war, Roger always kept track of everything – political, social and otherwise – and did not like being disconnected from his people.

After the staff was satisfied, they walked with Roger and Xavier down another hallway, unlocking several doorways to gain access to a remote and secured portion of the building. They then met with a few security guards who explained the rules, again giving them a pat-down to check for more hidden unauthorized items. They then added that nurses were going to be present to ensure their welfare and that they would not harm the veteran if he tried to attack.

Roger snorted. _Charles, are you sure we need to go through this? You have yet to tell me why we're here._

 _Patience, my spy, patience._ The Professor smiled. _You'll find out soon enough._

 _Not soon enough. This place is spooking the hell out of me._

 _I understand. It is never for the weary of heart._

 _No wonder Jay and Danielle refuse to come here. Getting stripped, touched inappropriately and watched like a hawk. If I wanted that, I would spend everyday with my suspicious wife._

 _It is not just this that keeps them away. You know well that Jay is also a combat veteran. He cannot be here without shaking. On the other hand, Danielle cannot cope with Chameleon very well._

 _Ahh, that old incident. She'll never get over it, will she?_

 _There is more between them, Roger, as you are aware of. I would leave the issue closed._

 _In the meantime, whatever you need to ask Chameleon will be recorded. What are you going to do with all of those nurses?_

 _The most unethical thing that I allow myself. You shall see._

Finally, there were allowed to enter and meet Chameleon, inching into his room at the end of the hallway with caution and stopping to observe their surroundings. The curtains were slightly drawn, revealing a man in his eighties dressed in civilian clothing, most likely in protest knowing him. He was flanked by four women, hovering closely to ensure a smooth visit. It wasn't too bright of a room, Xavier otherwise noted, but it was cheered by the flowers on the nightstand and the cleanliness by smell and touch

Chameleon scowled, annoyed. He was not pleased to have visitors and to have it reported to the administration's superiors. However, this feeling turned into elation. It was like a snap of one's fingers. Xavier immediately froze the inhabitants of the building, making sure that nobody who knew of the social call saw them as intruders and would have knowledge of their true intent. He turned to a grateful Chameleon and smiled just for him.

Behind Xavier, Roger was amazed. Feeling a sense of giddy freedom, he waited until Chameleon acknowledged them both. The veteran wasted no time after hiding his apparent happiness. He was aware that this was serious, his usual suspicion eying them. The only change in him was his age.

The veteran combed back his white hair with weak fingers. "What brings you two here?" he asked.

Roger was as tart as ever. "I thought you were having a bad day?"

Chameleon shrugged his shoulders painfully. "Being uncooperative about eating awful food is having a bad day. These people never learn respect. Even after sixty years, the treatments are still the same."

"We did not arrive here to discuss the inconveniences of today, my friend." Xavier wheeled in closer. "We need to talk of your family and not only your progeny."

"What about them?" Chameleon became defensive. He never blamed his children and grandchildren for not seeing him often, but he was always alert when his other members were mentioned. It was a past worth leaving behind.

"Did you not have an older brother?"

"Yes, I did. He's dead though, Charles. That skeleton was buried a long time ago."

"It needs to be dug up."

"Why?"

"The lessons of the past need to be applied to the present."

"They cannot be the same circumstances."

"When it involves the powers of Jayden and Danielle, it will be."

This caught Chameleon's attention, leaving him guarded and calculating the how and why. "What about them?"

Roger had already heard the news and was not going to allow Xavier the luxury of being gentle with it. "They're both in a coma."

The old man's eyes turned cold and hard. "Why? Did one of them want to die?"

"Not quite." Xavier thought of a way to explain it without causing more trouble. "We have reason to believe that they are a part of a…rift in their minds that has split them between this world and another. There is a known cause to this, but I will not divulge that to you yet. However, what I can say is that they are both dying, no doubt about it. If they are stuck in two worlds where they led different lives, then we need to find its source and close it before they are permanently damaged."

"How does it involve me and my brother?"

"Were you both not in the same position?"

"Might have been. I cannot remember."

Roger glanced from Xavier to Chameleon. He could not believe his ears. After some weeks of speculation and questioning, he finally received his answer. Its basic source remained a mystery though, even if this explanation did explain some things. He was willing to get to the bottom of that matter and hear this to the end. Two worlds, huh? What made that science fiction come to reality? And what did Logan have anything to do with it?

It was pretty obvious to the master spy that the events from a few weeks ago led them to this moment. He heard about the strange morning Logan had. That ancient asshole (as Danielle had called him for years) woke up and wandered the school in his pajamas. All of the secrecy, holing himself up in the bedroom with Danielle and the days that she and her brother were ill…it had to do with Chameleon and his powers. It was quite appropriate that it would begin and end with the veteran.

Roger actually did not know that there was something between Chameleon and his brother. In all of the decades they've been on terms, the veteran hardly mentioned the dashing Bradley Mitchell, who died when a drunk driver swerved and almost plowed into the younger child. The older brother protected him, taking his place, and died as a result. It was an incident that haunted Chameleon for years. It left him to his own devices and straying from his family and also to the marriage of his wife, which happened as a direct result of him being in prison.

"You want me…to speak about Brad?" Chameleon was incredulous nonetheless. He could not believe that his past, his childhood of all things, needed to be talked about.

"If you can." Xavier was determined to have his way. "Take as much time as you need."

The mercenary had to ponder what had happened to his children from the last major point in their lives. About ten years ago, they had elected to send him here because he no longer could live as he did and needed a decent place to remain in hiding until he died. Anonymous was the name of this game and resentence was the rule. Chameleon no longer wanted to look back at his life with regret and sadness. He had spent most of it coldhearted and could not blame Jay and Danielle for hiding it from the world. They thought it the best course of action.

They no longer needed him as they used to (well, what he felt anyway). At the time, Danielle had two of her children under the age of six and Jay was only beginning to truly bond with his son, who was a rebel just like him and yearned to run away. They were so busy in their lives and reestablishing themselves as community members that their old father felt unserviceable. When Jay suggested retiring to Westchester, Chameleon took the chance. Jay and Danielle helped him to pack her remaining earthy items and here he was.

Today, Danielle was forty-four and Jay fifty-four. They were both middle-aged adults, happily married and with careers. Now, they now were in trouble after years of peace? The two were involved in some outer-worldly sort of disaster that only Xavier could completely understand? And that unlocking his part with Brad was a part of it?

 _Nonsense._

"I see no reason why Brad is part and parcel to your so-called rift," Chameleon declared, bordering on hysteria. "He and I were different mutants."

"As different as your children?" Xavier challenged harshly, a sharp turn form his normal stance. "The two of you were in everything, thick and thin, despite your unusually large age differences. It is the same with Jay and Danielle. The bluejay and the raven teamed together to assist a member of our group and dove into something I did not expect. It caused them to rip into a history we thought forgotten and a future that was and never could be."

"What alternative future?" Chameleon was agitated, pinching his hand to keep calm. It was a tick that Roger and Xavier noticed decades before and did not stop. "There is only one and it's this one."

"I need you to trust me," the Professor urged. "I have _never_ led you astray and I would never begin now, especially in our old age."

"No, you're unlike Erik," the veteran conceded, "but you have your own means to this end. You're hiding the specific details, Charles, even from Firebird. A rift and another world cannot just explain why my children are in a coma. Who fell first? What led to that event? Then, who was the next? What vital signs did they have? Is there a chance that we can be destroyed?"

Xavier looked at Roger and nodded sadly. "I am sorry, Firebird," he said. "Would you mind taking a walk?"

Roger was calm outwardly, but was outraged on the inside. He, who knew everything and always had a finger on every piece of the pie, told to take a stroll somewhere, to miss out on information? It was uncalled for! He did not tolerate it and even made his displeasure known to the Professor, frowning deeply. Xavier chuckled lightly, patting him on the arm.

"Come now, my spy, you must have to make concessions," he added. He kept the joy in his voice to avoid showing his nervousness. "You cannot be privy to everything."

"Will you promise to tell me in the end?" Roger was furious, but he kept the rage at bay. He could not afford to lash out when he was weak himself.

"I will tell you what you need to know," Xavier allowed, giving a wide berth of what can be fed to the spy. It satisfied Roger too, for he left, prompted to move a little farther away when he lingered. Xavier then faced Chameleon, sighing as he readied himself. "Do you remember 1973?"

"Vaguely," Chameleon replied. "I came home from Vietnam that year. I had been in and out of the jungle and that time was where one day blurred into another. I do remember Shannon wanting another child and suffering miscarriages for years until Danielle was born."

"That year specifically though. Do you recall Hank and myself in the mansion?"

"The school had been closed for a few years then. You and Hank? Hmm…hiding, I would assume. Nobody had contact with either of you, not even Alex."

"Alex was also overseas."

"Ahh, yes, he was. Lorna wasn't even in the picture yet."

"No, that was ten years too early and she was much too young in 1973. Chameleon, I am not sure what you are aware of concerning these events. I must say though, the state of affairs were quite unique and very much strange."

Chameleon blew out some frustrated air. "It can't be worse than what I've seen in Vietnam. Shoot."

"Once upon a time, I was a shattered man," Xavier explained. "You had seen me when you came home and could not see my deep depression. I was not a happy man. However, one spring day, a man forced himself inside, yelling for me. Hank intercepted him and attacked. I came downstairs to try to weakly escort the man out, but he insisted that he had to see me. His tale was outrageous and fascinating…and very much true."

"Logan." Chameleon could not think of anyone else brazen enough to enter in such a grand way.

"Right," he said. "Now, his story was as strange as fiction. Logan informed me that he came from the future, in order to prevent an event from happening. In this new future, the world was in anarchy. The extinction of all mutants was apparent…and all of this circled around one assassination, involving Raven, my sister, and the historical timeline that Erik predicted so long ago. The rest of this you already are aware of. The events had been showed on national television and we were able to halt a program that would have destroyed all of us, although the world was not aware of it."

"And where was Logan after Erik almost assassinated Nixon and his administration?"

"Let's just say he found a way back to my kitchen. Raven followed him."

"And he was used ever since, mostly by Stryker."

"Yes. Unbelievable, is it not?"

"I would agree, Charles. However, the question remains of what conspired after he changed history. I do not think you insane…yet. However, I would tend to run with caution and question everything, especially in so extraordinary of an adventure. If Logan from another world changed his future and then ended up here, then he would not remember everything he did in this lifetime."

"Correct. This is why your daughter was so concerned. She did not want anyone else to know that her own husband had forgotten their collective past. She thought the issue private and even did not tell the children. Instead, she conspired to reveal to him a past so sordid that it made his future dim."

"So, Jay picked up on it…"

"And they compromised to share as much power they can to catch Logan up…"

"They would have seen Logan's other memories and swam past them."

"Danielle, yes. Jay provided the additional power until she collapsed."

"Until he fell," Chameleon predicted. "He was always the stronger one."

"This time, it was your daughter who was holding up," Xavier stated calmly. "In the process, the two invoked a collective and much different past. In the other, Jay was dead. Danielle lived until that day it was decided that Logan could change their future."

"That their reality was erased and ours was supposedly the fantasy is strange, but we have a tougher time of it, Charles. It hasn't changed unlike theirs. We're not some mirage."

"For Logan, it is. He did all of the persuading to come home to this."

"And Danielle and Jay reached out and found another side. What…what can we do? Charles, if Jay is dead, then he could…"

Xavier reached over and took Chameleon's hand. "I know, old friend. I know. What we need to do now is talk about Brad. What happened? What caused the two of you to break apart and for him to die?"

The hurt on Chameleon's face was obvious. He gripped Xavier's hand softly and smiled once more, resolved. "Get Firebird. I think it's time he heard this too."


	5. An Uncertain Proposition

Throughout the course of the next day, Jean had to juggle so many things. First her classes, which had been fewer in the recent years and a great relief. Second had been Scott, Rachel and Cable, who she spent time with as normally as she could, even though the two agitated her and Scott to no end with their pranks. Lastly had been Logan and his brood. While Mae had been handling that while Jean was absent, it was still her responsibility to handle Logan.

The four children soon became five within hours and that was a headache. Devon, when he heard the news about Danielle and Jay, rushed right home, in essence telling his superiors that this was a family emergency and to stuff it. He rotated shifts with Riley and Michael and their other halves and herded Daken and Celeste back to their studies and finals. He was strict for someone nearly thirty, roaring at the two youngest to get a move on or else face the consequences. Luckily, they obeyed.

After Xavier and Roger left that morning, Jean was alone in her office space and without guidance. She had no idea how to proceed. Xavier had asked her to make the initial move to close this so-called time rift. She honestly found the idea ludicrous and utterly ridiculous. It was hard to believe in the first place that Logan was a time traveler. He went to bed one night, full of jokes and excitement about the end of the school year, and woke up utterly confused and not himself, a consciousness from a different place? And now, it was all part of some unexplainable occurrence caused by everyone's actions?

She watched Devon from her office's window. He was solitary, taking his mother's hand and holding it tightly. He whispered something in her ear while tears glistened his eyes, but the doctor did not want to hear it. Jean was sure that he required some privacy and was willing to give it to him. Besides, her comfort had run dry these days and most of it had gone to the youngest two. The rest of her energy was spent calming Riley, who was frantic and wailing about what they would do without their mother.

When Ororo visited a few minutes later, Jean was in no mood. She sat back at her desk and was filing some odd work on her computer when her friend entered without knocking. Her features betrayed worry, but she was also slightly concerned. Ororo had been privy to the initial situation and was aware of what was going on, but never involved herself. She didn't even allow a word to pass to an unauthorized person and had kept away, watching from a distance with Matthew by her side.

 _Until now…_

"Rumors are a wonderful thing," Ororo began, trying to get Jean's attention as she seated her before the desk. When that didn't work, she tried a different tactic. "You know, people are saying things about you."

"Is that so?" Jean continued to watch her screen, clicking away on her mouse. "What kind of things?"

"That you're rekindling your affair with Logan again."

"You know as well as I do that it is a lie."

"It wasn't before."

"The last time involved hardly anything that was sexual. It was a hard period in both of our lives and we took comfort in each other. There is no crime in that."

"Words are vicious, Jean. Confront it."

Jean was so frustrated, catching herself growling. "What do you want, Storm?"

Some answers." Ororo leaned back in her chair. "First off, any changes?"

"In Jay and Danielle, no. Isn't that obvious?" Jean frowned.

"Not really. What is _truly_ going on?"

"Something I cannot understand. The Professor explained to me…"

Ororo leaned in now. "Explained… _what_ , exactly?"

Jean tried changing the topic. "Any way you can drag Matthew back in here?"

"Nice try. He doesn't like hospitals and by default would not come here. Now, what did the Professor say?"

Hesitation lined Jean's face, but she swallowed that as she turned to her friend. Ororo was trustworthy and would not spread the story. "That Danielle and Logan's theory of a time rift most likely is true and that we're going to need to step up and close it."

Ororo laughed deeply. "Really? Is that it?"

"You're taking this pretty casually for someone who might be a part of it."

"It sounds simpler than you make it out to be."

"How so?"

"Well, you connect Logan to each person in that lifetime," Ororo began. "Walk him through maybe."

Jean shook her head. "Some of us might be dead."

"Oh, so you're doing it one step at a time because some of us might be caught in some sort of dead end?"

"The Professor said so. He tried and found himself wading. He might have so much he could do and then would need to pass the torch to the next person."

"I see. Well, you might need to be the link for some of us. Rogue might be of some assistance, I believe."

Jean winced, showing her obvious distaste in ringing in another person. "We want to keep this as quiet as we can."

"I understand," Ororo conceded. "Well, maybe you should start from the beginning with Logan. In his other life, it's possible you had a greater impact than in this one. You could have been a shining light."

Her friend had to laugh. "That's nonsense, Storm. You really believe in this?"

"Somebody has to. We all need to have some hope." Ororo rose. "If you need anything, I'll be checking in with Danielle and Jay's students. You going to cover any of her classes?"

"Scott might be able to," Jean mentioned. She did not have the time or patience for more kids vying for either attention or power. "Ask him."

The two said their farewells and Ororo left the infirmary. Jean emerged from her chair, exiting herself. She searched for Logan, not finding him anywhere nearby. The only people milling around her were a few sick students, Fiona and Devon and Riley. Mae was nearby in her office and was eying the scenes every so often. She met Jean's eye and an understanding grew. Mae would watch them for a while as Jean checked in with Logan.

It didn't take long for her to find him either. Jean only had to follow the cigar scent from the basement level up to the basketball court. He was smoking, sitting on a bench and enjoying the summer sunshine. He felt stifled, claustrophobic by the small space and the amount of people who constantly badgered him for answers that he either did not have or could not explain. From what Jean sensed, Logan felt relieved that Devon had arrived and took control. It gave him the opportunity for a break.

Jean sat down next to Logan. "Can we talk?"

Smoke whirled around Logan as he finished his cigar. "It depends."

"On what?" she snapped, indignant that his attitude was flippant, rude even."

"If it's about Danielle, I need a few minutes. If it's something else, I'm all ears."

"Oh, you're impossible!"

"You're not the only one who's told me that and you won't be the last. If I had to take a guess about your visit though, it's about my wife and kids and how you can't handle them around."

"Seems like you can't either."

Logan scowled, hiding the cigar stub in his pants pocket. "It's not that I can't handle them. I look into their faces. They all expect me to tell them that it'll be ok and that their mother would walk out alive. The thing is, I don't think so. We all were dead."

"There might be a way," Jean offered weakly.

"What?" Logan bared out laughter. "You think our story will make a difference?"

"You and Danielle were on the right track," she retorted when he silenced himself. "Maybe if you had some hope…put a little faith in your abilities…then maybe you wouldn't be wallowing in your misery."

"I'm not miserable, I'm overwhelmed. Major difference."

"Whatever, Logan. Now, do you want to help Danielle and Jay or what?"

"Considering that my brother-in-law hates my guts…"

"You have a beaming personality that shines through."

"And he's connected to my wonderful wife…"

"All her life and most of his, yes."

"Then, I might as well try."

Jean was surprised by this sarcastic and quite pessimistic behavior. She had never seen Logan so bitter before. This was new, a consciousness that had seen more than the Logan she knew had. What horrible events shaped this life? What deaths had occurred in order to make him so wary of living and wishing that he was dead? Was she an influence that might have made him like this?

"What was I to you in your previous life?" she initially asked. "What dd I do to you?"

"Die," Logan replied coldly."

Jean's heart sank. "How?"

"Does it matter?" He waved his hand in dismissal. He was pushing that memory away, not allowing her to even sense it. "You're alive now."

"You are the only link from there to here, that's why. Maybe if I knew what was between us, that part can be closed."

"It is to me now."

"To you, yes, but not here. Not now. Look, Logan, if you want to help Danielle and Jay, you need to cooperate with me and be truthful. Let's find a private place and talk."

What choice was there? Logan conceded, believing that it would not do anything for Danielle and Jay if he relived anything that they were not involved in (although Danielle was nearby when the incident originally happened). He got up, walking back to the mansion. Jean followed closely behind him, soon realizing that they were back in the same place where it all began. She closed his bedroom door behind her, realizing that Ororo's statement about the affair might be fueled by this action alone, and sat next to him on the bed.

Logan relaxed, staring at Jean in what appeared to be childish petulance. He waited until she was ready, closing his eyes as her hands brushed against his temples. She passed through all sorts of images, some of them Danielle showed and others he wanted to brush aside, and soon came upon the beginning of the ending.

It was a cold, remote bar. A mysterious and shadowy figure remained in the corner of a high-fenced arena. He was shirtless and sweaty, kicking a man with steel-toed boots amidst the jeers and cheers of a million faces blurred into one peach-colored swirl. Within that audience was a single hooded figure, a small and short girl. She was trying in every way to prevent herself from touching anyone, afraid that she would send them into a coma as she did with a boy she kissed. Of course, the man who was victorious in his cage – the king, as it were – did not know this, only passing a glance at the teenager with the dark brown hair.

 _Rogue._

Jean wanted to back out of this dreamlike sequences, but was too enthralled and kept watching the scenes unfold, one after another like a series of pictures that smoothly transitioned into a movie. Logan was thrown out of the bar after an altercation and Rogue snuck into his trailer to escape. She was eventually found out and he decided, after throwing her out, that it was worth it to give her a lift. He was kind to her, reminding himself in his head that he also was experiencing a difficult time, more than fifteen years' worth with no previous chapters in his life. It was a nothingness he fought daily.

If she looked further, she could invoke a series of events that led to the wipeout. However, she ignored that and continued on to the attack, the trailer crashing in a snowbank and the two being rescued by Scott and Ororo. When Logan woke up, he was in the medical bay. Jean herself was above him. Frightened, he pinned her down, leaving her in his tangled mess of wires and tubes. He aimlessly wandered the mansion and was soon found by Xavier.

The rest was history, a jumble of emotions and traumatic points that led them to a Chinese monastery many years in the future. Jean did not want to go any further and pulled away. When she met Logan's eyes, she saw how haunted he was. This was no walk in the park. He had undergone serious pain, discovery and war between that meeting and the end, when he decided to change his destiny and his future altogether. In the end, all that mattered was that humanity survived, not them. The needs of the many always outweighed the needs of the few or the one person.

"You loved me then," Jean declared after an uneasy silence. The truth hit her hard. "You killed me."

Logan looked away. "It was not an easy decision. You were killing people. You begged me to do it. I didn't want to."

"I can understand. My powers are…horrifying. I believe that it would have been the best."

"I hurt Danielle too. I think I hurt her the most."

"In her heart, she would have forgiven you. Then and now, she always did and will. She did last time."

Logan nodded evenly. "Jean…Jean, what if this doesn't work? That we're wrong? What will we do?"

Uncertainty never was Logan's thing, then and now. He was confident and sometimes spontaneous and pretty cocky, but he never asked himself what the future would bring or what decisions needed to be made. He was now akin to a child, searching for answers that she could not give. For comfort, she held his hand instead.

"I don't know," Jean admitted, feeling as lost as he was. "I don't know, Logan. We'll find out when we get there."


	6. Back and Forth

Chameleon and Xavier waited until Roger entered back into the room. By then, the master spy was quite sullen. He was also bored, picking at the nurses' clothing before seating himself. The adjustment itself was better than before, Xavier had to admit with amusement. Roger knew when to put on a show when he was pouting, for sure.

"You ready?" Chameleon was eager to get this confession out in the open.

"As ever." Roger leaned forward. "You know how much I love stories, yours most of all."

"Roger," Xavier warned.

"What?" The master spy transformed into a picture of innocence. "I am not doing anything."

Chameleon found this quite funny, cracking a rare smile. "Can this begin with once upon a time?"

"As you wish." Xavier returned the sentiment, his attention fully on the former mercenary.

"Ok, then. Once upon a time." The veteran closed his eyes, savoring the images of his past. For him, it was an awkward, transporting himself back to a time he never thought to look back on. "I was the younger son. I had an older brother, maybe eight or nine years older than I was. I can't remember, it's been so long. His name was Bradley Dean Mitchell. We all called him Brad…well, after I did because I was a talking toddler and I couldn't pronounce his full name. Anyway, Brad always protected me, much as Jay does to Danielle. I looked up to him constantly. We were a team that could not be separated, but there were some things that kept us apart and one of them had been his powers.

"Brad had many, many secrets, a lot of them having to do with his powers. He never told me about them when I asked, saying that I would never understand because I was too young. I mean, our parents were mutants too and they included Brad in their discussion circle, excluding me when I was nearby. They never talked of it openly either, showing off here and there when they needed to use them. Mostly, my father would disappear when he needed to do something without us seeing or if he just wanted to be with my mother alone. Once, my mother used her powers of persuasion to get out of a speeding ticket because we did not have the money to pay the police.

"So, being a child of the fifties and to never feel loved was a horrible thing, especially when you hardly had any friends to begin with. I was the odd ball, the only person who always struck out. I was on some pretty grey areas, being part of a mutant family and acting human, but expecting to develop powers. I thought it would never come to me, that I would be a regular person forever and never fit into my family puzzle. I thought about running away several times, usually caught when I reached the railroad tracks outside of town. Remember, Stamford wasn't as big of a town as it is today. It was all woods and farms back in the day.

"Anyway, one day, my wish became my worst nightmare. It happened so fast that I would soon understand very well what it meant to be a mutant. When I was maybe five or six years old, I climbed up to the neighboring barn and wanted to have a view from the second floor. When I was finished, I turned and stumbled against some item and went down the ladder. I somehow managed to make myself invisible and encased in some blue and silver bubble as I tumbled down. I couldn't grab a rut. I was too far away and I went down too quickly.

"The only person I was able to contact was Brad, screaming his name. I couldn't tell if it was in my head or by mouth. All I could remember was the terror and not feeling any pain when I hit the ground since the protective bubble softened the blow. He came to my side immediately and found me, made sure that I was ok when I reappeared and the encasing disappeared. All that happy stuff that siblings do for each other. Then, he asked me what happened."

"I'm sure you were babbling," Roger interjected.

"Oh, yes," Chameleon confirmed. "When you're that young and had no idea what happened, you tend to run your sentences together and panic. Brad understood this. He silently took my hands and linked them with his. At the moment, I felt a power that I couldn't imagine. Suddenly, all of these voices filled my head, people from faraway places and animals that lived nearby. I could tell where everything was, watch world events as they unfolded and even hide my essence inside of myself. If I put my imagination to it, I could do _anything_ I wanted.

"Worse off was Brad. When he connected to me, the look on his face was painful and pitiful. It was like he never wanted me to endure this ordeal and would have done anything to prevent it. However, the damage had been done. He was too late to turn back the clock and to change the accident that could have killed me. He could not reverse that harsh link that pushed the two of us together in a circle that we thought would never be broken. We became one.

"From that moment onward, the two of us shared our powers. It was a unique experience, let me tell you, and it was questioned from the start. Our parents thought it was impossible and preposterous and did not believe us. There was no way that genetics had been able to form two brothers, aged several years apart, that would have been able to sense what the other needed, when one wanted more energy for an activity or even have an awareness that exceeded the normal mutant.

"That denial continued for a few years, even though Brad and I proved them wrong time and again. They simply did not want to see. My mother even tried persuading me through her own hands that what I was doing did not exist. Unfortunately for her, I knew it was a deception and managed to push her thoughts aside. My father did not bother to talk to us. More and more, he disappeared, leaving my mother with no control and us to our own devices. For Brad, this was hurtful. For me, it was nothing new. All this was nothing more than an adventure. It was a grand world we had and it laid before our feet.

"All good things come to an end, I suppose. By the time I was eleven, Brad and I weren't really home. Sure, we went to school and acted like normal kids, but we hardly saw our parents and they did not care about us. We came back to eat sometimes, maybe to get warm when winter was hard. There was a mutual understanding between all of us. They never asked us questions and we never took more than we needed. We were kids without supervision. We had a moral code, yet no guidance as to what was truly right and wrong, and most certainly there was no hand to push us on the former.

"During those years, we earned somewhat of a reputation that followed us from town to town. We weren't exactly criminals, but we were caught up with the law a lot. Usually, the police brought us home. When my mother turned a blind eye and chose to cleave to her impulses, we were off again. When the so-called school guidance counselor found out, he called child services to have us taken away. And that was when we truly ran away. We had family south of Stamford that was willing to take us in. They weren't going to breath a word about our whereabouts and were willing to school us at home.

"It was idyll. Brad and I followed the same routine we had when we lived with our parents with some structure behind it and lived for three months in harmony and with some academics in our head. However, one summer day changed all of that. It would be the day that transformed a street kid into a fighting machine and a pathway that I never thought would take, even if Brad was beside me. It would be the moment Henry Jones Mitchell changed into Chameleon.

"I remember the day clearly. It was hot and sunny with a touch of humidity. July 6, 1960. Brad and I had plans to run across the railroad tracks and do some exploring. We had heard that some of the other kids in the neighborhood found a dead body. That always fascinated people like us. The police didn't know of it yet and we all wanted a look before they picked it up. This was a limited time offer.

"I ran ahead because I knew where the location was. A whisper in my ear was what got us running. Brad was behind me, maybe some feet or yards, I cannot remember. I just…I mean, I can picture the still houses, the hot sidewalk with shade and cracks and thick trees and the way the summer buzzed in my ear. I was excited. What thirteen-year-old wouldn't be, skipping along to see a bloated body?

"There are many things I could have blamed this on. My ignorance of my surroundings was one. Maybe it was the way freedom tasted? Or that I was an oblivious child on the cusp of adulthood who did not care? Who could tell? Nobody could have predicted that swerving vehicle that came out of nowhere and headed my way. I realized it the last minute and could not react. I was a deer in the headlights, as it were, and only remembered being pushed out of the way as it crashed into the sidewalk and stopped as it went through someone's fence. Underneath the car was Brad.

"He had shoved me out of the way and took the hit. I dashed over to see him, to pull him out of the wreckage. The driver was dead or else he would have been soon be since my rage was consuming me. My concern turned to Brad. I touched him his head. His eyes fluttered open and then closed. He was dying, that much was true."

By then, Chameleon had lost his calm. For the first time in his life, he wept in front of his friends. He never allowed himself that luxury because life wasn't going to give him anything for grief. The loss of Brad had been a big part of his life and had paved the way for his notorious life as the Vietnam veteran and assassin aptly named Chameleon. He had no directorial light anymore, no older brother to curb his nefarious activities. It was just him and pure survival.

"It must have been hard," Xavier observed kindly.

Roger was not so gentle. "That's the way life goes."

Immediately, Chameleon halted his tears and glared at Roger with a viciousness that the master spy had not seen in years. "It always goes that way in life, yes, but Brad did not deserve to die. It should have been me that the driver took out, not him. _Never_ him. Destiny should be given to the less deserving."

"So, you both tried to travel back in time to change the events," Xavier immediately connected. A light dawned on his face and understanding took over.

"With whatever strength I could give him," Chameleon confirmed. "The past does not like to be changed though. Three times we tried, each with a different result. One of us always died."

"How were you able to make it back into the past?"

"It was Brad…all Brad. He had the extra ability that he shared with me upon his death."

"What happened exactly, Chameleon? How did you know each time you traveled?"

"Some time travelers will be the only ones who remember both past and future and their helpers in dreams or only one will carry all the marbles," Chameleon explained. "Others, like myself and Brad, will remember all of the instances. You see, for us, there was an uncanny ability to read each other's minds constantly, like Jay and Danielle, and we could reach back into any timeline."

"Where was your rift?" Roger was curious.

"The three times we went back, an unknown force would push us down the right pathway, defied only once." The veteran shook his head. "I can't explain it any other way. Once we challenged it and I was the one who died, the new future was so different and horrible that we had to do it again. Brad was the one who decided that he had to die. It was the way life was supposed to be."

"How did he part his powers to you?"

"Roger, Roger, Roger… _patience_. I was going to get there. Now, Brad and I had a part of each other inside of ourselves. When he laid dying the last time, he put his hand to my head and told me to remember."

"In short, the last gift he gave you was passing everything to you?"

"And righting the past and future."

"How would you assess the situation with your children?" Xavier butted in before the two started arguing.

"A visitor that wasn't them, a wild card that had to be thrown." Chameleon grew grave. "Someone who was not used to manipulating minds and using it. Someone who did not have the same abilities and volunteered himself to save the future, whatever it may be."

Roger had no doubt about who it was. "Logan."

"I would assume so," the veteran continued. "If so, he is your key to the doorway. Whatever he has from that other place he came from, it needs to be closed."

"Or…what exactly?" Roger was confused. Here, he felt that he was missing details.

"Or else that past becomes our past," Chameleon warned. "Their future becomes ours. Whenever one time travels, their old past is dominant and will remain quiet until the can is opened. This is a new world to them. It can either devour us or it can be tamed. Either way, Logan needs to be controlled…and his former memories erased."

~00~

 _It was cold, oh, so cold. Danielle held onto her two youngest children with fear, although she was determined to fight this time to her death. The thin walls of the monastery hardly protected them from the dangers they knew were coming though, metal machines that would search and find them. That much was certain as the hours ticked down and the yells for the robotic monsters they fought for years drew closer and louder. There would be no hope for them._

No. I cannot admit defeat. I cannot allow my husband's work to be completed. Not now not ever!

 _As an assassin, she always remained aloof and distant. She drew her strength from that and stood strong. In the very least, she had to do it for her children. Daken and Celeste were more frightened than she imagined them to be, even if they did not outwardly show it recently. The initial responses were a little more than heartbreaking though and more than enough to make her scream about the unfairness._

 _Indeed, Celeste was in tears when it was decided that Logan would go back into the past. His initial screaming in pain made the girl blame all of the adults for Logan's misery. She even gave Danielle a hard time and refused to talk to her for over an hour because it was also her fault that Logan had to sacrifice himself. Afterward, she sulked and then calmed down, breathing evenly and walking around in circles as a way to keep herself from thinking about her father._

 _Daken normally did not show his emotions, although a rare tear ran down his face when Kitty worked her powers. He was so much like Logan that way. Indeed, like his older brothers, he had been practicing in keeping calm, to assess situations carefully and to make the best of what he had. Nearly fourteen, he had elected to remain inside, wiping away all fear. He would be the last line of defense with his mother. He shook with the prospect, inwardly wishing that his father was awake enough to comfort him and to make sure that he was covered at the rear._

 _Danielle took a deep breath. When she exhaled, she noticed that Xavier and Magneto had stepped to one side. The two were conversing with Bobby about something. Whatever it was, it was not good. The deep lines of their faces displayed dismay, frustration and worry. They was a lot of self-control in there too, especially from Bobby. Normally, he had a temper and did not hesitate to rashly take action. Grown into his late thirties, he already thrived on risk, danger and death. Nothing would faze him now._

 _She took the opportunity to break away from her vigil from the children and meet the trio. "What is going on?" she asked the three softly._

 _None of them answered. This Danielle took in with a sinking heart. It could be that they had been discussing escape routes. Honestly though, there was none. With many children under the age of eighteen and all of them without strategy, a team that could hardly pull together and an enemy that they could not defeat, there was no chance for their survival. This was truly their only hope._

" _Can it be more obvious?" Magneto smiled weakly. He too was too ill-equipped to hide his uneasiness._

" _Yes," Danielle replied, "and worse because we have nothing left. This is the last hand of cards we have. We're going to lose if the king of diamonds ends up being an ace of spades."_

" _Not all hope is lost," Xavier argued._

" _No," she agreed. It was the only way to prevent an argument. Even she knew that all was lost._

" _We might need to replace Kitty soon," Bobby pointed out. "She can't stand it much longer. She's losing blood fast."_

" _Who do you have in mind?" Magneto was curious. "Nobody can replicate her powers."_

" _You of all people should know the answer." Bobby turned to leave the group. "If you don't, I'll ask you to remember Ellis Island."_


End file.
